Melco Crown profit falls 56pct on project financing costs

2013-5-9

From：Macau Daily Times

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., the casino venture between a son of casino mogul Stanley Ho and Australian billionaire James Packer, reported a 56 percent drop in first-quarter profit on financing costs related to its new Macau project.
Net income fell to USD53.8 million from USD122.1 million a year earlier for the three months ended March, according to a filing today. Adjusted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, rose to USD273.5 million from USD242.5 million. Melco Crown is building the new Studio City casino resort on the Cotai strip, to compete with bigger rivals including Sands China Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. who have been adding new attractions to woo gamblers. Net interest expense almost doubled to USD41.4 million in the quarter. Net revenue increased about 11 percent to USD1.14 billion.
Melco is expanding both at home and overseas. In the Philippines, the company is partnering with Belle Corp. to develop and operate a casino resort in Manila which is expected to cost USD1 billion. Belle holds one of four casino licenses in the Southeast Asian nation. The country’s annual revenue from gaming may rise to USD10 billion in 2017 from more than USD2 billion last year once the Manila casino complex is operating fully, Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. Chairman Cristino Naguiat said on Jan. 15.
Melco’s Studio City casino resort is estimated to cost more than USD2 billion to construct and it’s scheduled to open in middle of 2015.
Casino revenue in Macau, is expected to rise to USD44.5 billion this year from USD38 billion last year, according to Deutsche Bank AG estimates. Melco Crown closed 0.8 percent lower at HKD64 at the close of Hong Kong trading. The stock has climbed 49 percent this year, outperforming benchmark Hang Seng Index’s 2.6 percent gain.

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